Dawn
by Moonlight Meiko
Summary: It's about SasuSaku. -bows- Please enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Dawn  
SasuSaku**

Chapter 1  
The soft, rays of the morning sun shone out from behind the Hokage cliffs, spreading light out across the ninja village. The dawn sky was lit up and the clouds glowed red. "Red sky in the morning"? Some may say that it could be a bad omen. It is believed that bad things are to come on the day that begins with blood red clouds. Then again, it's just a superstition…

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Several birds woke in shock at the sudden outburst from one of the many houses in the village. "Is that the time?!" cried the 17 year old pink haired kunoichi, "I'm late for training!" She charged around, grabbing her kunai and shuriken, and dashed out the house. "Bye, dear!" her mother sang.

Slamming the door behind her, Haruno Sakura ran as fast as she could down the streets towards her team's traditional meeting point on the bridge. "Damn it," she cursed, "Maybe I spent too much time on my hair today... I wanted it to be perfect for Sasuke-kun! Perhaps he would like me if I put more effort into my looks than I usually do!"

She decided to take a shortcut down a narrow alleyway. "I've never been late before…" she thought, worried, "What will Sasuke-kun say? Naruto has been delayed a couple of times before and Kakashi-sensei is always late but I guess they get away with it because Sasuke-kun admires them. But, Sasuke… he's never been late before. He's always there before me!"  
The girl was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't sense the presence of another equally flustered young man running down the street she was about to join.

When she did notice him, it was already too late. They collided hard and Sakura fell into him, knocking him onto his back as she fell upon him.  
For a moment she was lost in a daze. A warm, soft daze… ah… she could feel the breathing against her neck. Her mind saw images of Uchiha Sasuke there with her. Oh how she wished she could be so close to him. Then it struck her – she was lying on top of a complete strange in the middle of the street where anyone could see her!!

"Ah!" she yelped. She opened her eyes and was faced with a metal Konoha forehead protector and long dark bangs of hair. Her eyes widened. Could it be…? Slowly she dragged her eyes down to see two dark eyes. For a second, she could've sworn she saw a softness to them, but changed her mind when they flickered to a very sharp and pissed off gaze. She'd been the recipient of that look many times… Then she realised who was beneath her… Uchiha Sasuke!  
"Get off me, baka," he grunted. He had his hands up by his face and Sakura paused, noticing how vulnerable this position made him look. She was losing herself in his deep eyes when she was suddenly brought back to earth by the words, "Get the hell off..!"

"Ano! I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun! I wasn't looking where I was going!" She jumped off him and got up, somewhat reluctantly. He stood up too and looked away, saying, "Geez…"  
"Sorry," she repeated, "I was worried because I was late for training and- … hold on. Sasuke-kun, you're late too?"  
"You think?" he said, perhaps a little too harshly, as he turned round and glared at her. Sakura felt his cold gaze and gasped inwardly before sighing and looking down. She was used to being treated like this. Nothing hurts quite like unrequited love, she thought.

Gathering herself and looking back up, she asked, "Why are you late today, Sasuke-kun?"  
She noticed an odd expression on his face as she asked. He seemed slightly troubled. However, before she could mention it, he looked off to the side and replied, "I could ask you the same question. But I'm not interested. So I won't."  
"U-Uh… okay…" She put on a forced smile and acted cheerful again, struggling to hide her curiosity, "Shall we walk to the meeting point together then? I doubt Kakashi-sensei is there yet."  
"Hmph," he said, turning and starting to walk without her. She quickly joined him and walked by his side.  
"Ne, Sasuke-kun," she said, looking to him.  
"What?" he said. He didn't turn his head. Sakura noticed how he seemed to be staring into the distance, as if deep in thought.  
"Ah… are you feeling alright? I mean, it's not like you to be unpunctual…"  
"I'm… fine."  
She felt her heart skip a beat. She could immediately tell from his hesitation that something was not right.  
"I don't believe you. You can trust me, Sasuke-kun."  
He was quiet for a moment. Sakura wondered if he was even listening, when he finally spoke, "You're a comrade. That's all. Leave me alone."  
The kunoichi dropped back a step in surprise. She felt a blow to her heart. Even if he didn't love her, she'd always thought he'd considered her a friend and yet now…  
"Sasuke…" she said, her face contorting as she tried to fight back tears.  
"Don't bother yourself with me," he said and leapt up onto the rooftops, making his way to the meeting point without her.  
Sakura stopped where she was. A cold wind blew her hair in her face and brought goose bumps to her skin. A tear dropped by her feet and she suddenly felt very alone.

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
There aren't many words Sakura would be able to use to describe her feelings towards her team mate. Every night, before she fell asleep, she would lie awake, staring at the ceiling, the image of his face before her eyes. She would look at each little detail; his dark, penetrating gaze, his flowing ebony bangs, the way the corner of his mouth curled when she messed up at sparring. It was true, she had gained Tsunade's massive strength, and yet, both Sasuke and Naruto were in an entirely different league to her. She had learnt this fact, on the day Sasuke returned to Konoha. There had been a fight between Naruto and Orochimaru. Her comrade had been almost killed if it hadn't been for Sasuke jumping in and betraying his new master in order to save his best friend. That had been the end of the snake Sannin.  
Every night she would remember how she had stood on the side, just watching. "Don't come near!" Sasuke had said, when she had tried to help him fight, "He's too strong for you!" The only role she played was the healing of wounds after the battle. All she was good for, was sitting back and realising how amazing her team mates were.

Her feelings were mixed. Everyone said, "It's a crush, get over it" …however… yes, she thought, maybe it had started like that but that slight interest had developed into true love. At once it was the most wonderful feeling to be near him, though Sakura also resented her feelings. Why, why did she have to fall for him? The one person every girl liked. The one person who didn't like anyone else! The one person who hated her… why did she have to love him…? But, as she thought this, she couldn't help but look at him and notice how perfect his body was, or how beautiful she thought his face was. Beautiful? Well, she couldn't believe she thought this either, but when she saw him, she really did feel this way…

Thus, as she went to sleep each night, she would picture him… he would smile at her… he would tell her he did care…

So, as she stood there, watching him run from her, she felt so hurt. She'd devoted most of her life to thinking about him and doing things for him. Never once had he told her he appreciated her actions. In fact, most times he ordered her to go away and at least once, had confronted her and told her to her face how annoying he thought she was. He couldn't understand how deeply her feelings ran and he probably never would.

Sakura was reawakened from her depressing thoughts when she suddenly remembered how late she was for training. She continued to run through the streets, heading once more for the bridge.

Upon arriving, she was confronted by her sensei, Hatake Kakashi. "Hm?" he said as she made her way to stand by the railing. Sasuke ignored her, but she didn't notice because she couldn't even look at him. "Sakura," said Kakashi, smiling, "You're later than me. I am not alone in losing myself on the path of life… ne?"

She didn't look up. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

"Hey, Sakura-chaan~!" Naruto sang, "Where were you? I beat up Sasuke while we waited for you."

Sakura waited for the usual retort from Sasuke to his rival but it never came.

"Well," Kakashi said, ignoring the tension in the air, "Today, we will practise chakra control before a C-rank bodyguard mission."

"Whaaat?!" Naruto cried, "C-rank? But I want to beat up some high class missing nin!"

"Today is not the day for that," Kakashi replied. "I think you guys should be taking it easy right now."

"Whyyy?!" whined the blond haired ninja, but his teacher only smiled knowingly.

And so the day progressed. Sakura was unable to look at Sasuke, and he didn't say a single word. Once they had been dismissed from their mission in the evening and began to set off in their separate ways home, Naruto approached the pink haired kunoichi.

"Sakura-chan," he said gently.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"I can understand why Sasuke would be weird today, but why are you so quiet? And you didn't ask Sasuke to dinner like to always do!"

"What's the point?" she answered, looking at her feet.

"Huh? But you're always talking to him, Sakura-chan. Why not today?"

She was silent. Naruto was getting closer to the cause of her dark mood.

"Has something happened between you and Sasuke?" Bang. Got it.

She bit her lip and fought back her tears as she tried to keep herself from blurting out her feelings. She felt a friendly, comforting hand on her shoulder. That was more than enough to make her start crying again. "Why does he have to be so cold?!" she wailed, and found herself in a hug.

"Sakura-chan…" he said, "I know you really love him. I'll make him pay for whatever he's done to you."

She sobbed for a few moments, sensing a presence nearby. She glanced over Naruto's shoulder and caught sight of two dark eyes watching her. In the blink of an eye though, they were gone. She hadn't had long enough to determine whose eyes they were, but she had a pretty good idea.

"N-Naruto," she said, pulling away from him and drying her eyes, "You said… you know why he's being different today. Why is that?"

"Oh," he said as they started walking again, "He only told me this recently as a punishment for running away, hehehe! But… today is the day his clan was killed."

So that was why he was being so cold today… Sakura was aware that her other team mate had difficulty coping with and expressing his feelings and understood his different behaviour. Though, that didn't explain why he was late…

"Thanks, Naruto," she smiled, "See you tomorrow." He smiled back and waved as he jumped up onto a roof and called, "Bye, Sakura-chan!"

She made her way to her house. However, when she arrived there, an idea struck her… It would be risky, but perhaps she may be able to find out something…  
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	3. Chapter 3

How dare he…"

The two were hugging tightly. It made him sick. What the hell were they playing at? Shinobi are fighters, not soppy, crying idiots. Besides, it's not like those two are in love. And he definitely wasn't jealous.

Not one bit.

Absolutely not.

I mean, what's the deal with hugging anyway? It's just holding another person. No different from holding a shuriken. Except maybe, a person would be larger. And warmer. And softer… What? No! There's no difference at all! And Sasuke really couldn't care less. He didn't need to ever make that kind of bodily contact. In fact, it would make you vulnerable to attack. The other person could easily assassinate you, while you were looking over their shoulder. Or closing your eyes… or burying your face in their comforting shoulder…

Frankly, Sasuke didn't give a damn about it. Especially as he watched Sakura crying into Naruto's shoulder. He didn't need that. He'd been alone for so long – why should that change now?

And Sakura… well, she was the worst of the lot. When she hugged him (which she tended to do quite often) he wouldn't feel anything. Of course not. What's the appeal of being so close to another person? When she'd fallen on him earlier, all he'd felt was irritation. Perhaps a little warm inside. And maybe rather comfortable. And a little bashful as he felt her now womanly chest press against him.

But the important thing was that he really didn't care. And as Sakura lifted her head from Naruto's shoulder and looked in his direction with those tears in her beautiful, green eyes, her cherry blossom hair strewn about her rosy face and her little pink mouth opened slightly, he'd felt nothing. He didn't care if she looked at him like that. He didn't care if she was upset. She was nothing more than a comrade.

That's what he told himself as he disappeared from her sight, cheeks pink. But, of course, he wasn't blushing. That was just because he was hot after training. Sasuke wasn't the kind of guy to blush, anyway.

He set off to his home. He would go there, shower, study for a while and then visit his old house in the abandoned Uchiha village. On the journey, images of Sakura's hurt expression wouldn't leave his mind. It was true, she'd grown into a pretty woman. Beautiful, even. Her body had matured and she had soft, sweeping, feminine curves. There wasn't a single guy who didn't have a crush on her at some point. Except Sasuke. He didn't like her in that way. However, Sakura had never paid attention to anyone other than him. What was her problem? It was probably just because he was so popular. Girls tended to be like that. Sasuke was aware that he was incredibly easy on the eyes. In fact, he secretly enjoyed the attention he got. All the girls fell for him, and all the guys envied him.

Every morning, he fashioned his hair into the usual perfect style. Recently, he'd even started applying a hint of black eyeliner to accent his dark eyes. Though, no one else would be allowed to know about that. If that wasn't enough, Naruto had forced him into having his ears pierced! He now wore two simple, silver studs.

He was nearing his house, when he sensed a presence a short distance behind him. He chose to ignore it and continued on his way but as he moved, the person moved with him. Hmmm. He smelt a familiar scent. Cherry blossom perfume. Oh, for crying out loud…

He arrived at his front door and his follower stopped in a blossoming sakura tree nearby. He kept his back turned to them, but spoke coolly: "Sakura, I know you're there."

There was a short, awkward silence before his pursuer muttered, "Crap," and jumped down from her hiding place. He turned and looked over his shoulder at her. Blossoms were falling around her as she'd jumped from the branches and he was presented with his team mate surrounded by a rain of pink petals. He noticed how perfect she looked beneath the tree she was named after. Her bright jade eyes opened and she looked at him. He turned away suddenly, feeling his face grow hot. "What's wrong with me?" he thought.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun," she said, her voice a little shaky, "I just…"

"What is it?" he asked impatiently.

"Ano... I... well, you… I wondered… if… you were okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Naruto told me why… it's been ten years, hasn't it? Since your clan-"

"It's none of your business."

"But, I'm your frie- … comrade. It's important that comrades are honest with each other, so they can work together as a team more easily. Like, I wonder why you were late this morning…"

"Stop talking."

"Right," thought Sakura, "If I can't talk, then I can use actions. After all, actions speak louder than words." With that, she walked up behind him and was surprised to meet no resistance as she put her hand on his shoulder.

The reason for this, was that Sasuke had frozen at the touch. His eyes shot to the gloved hand. "What is this warm thing?" He felt an unusual feeling inside himself – like he wanted to pour out all his sadness and fill the emptiness with her warmth.

Then, she spoke again, feeling a new bout of confidence, "Where were you this morning?"

His lips moved by themselves, as if he were under some sort of spell, "I was in-"

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**Author's note (yes, another one): Bwhahahahha xDDDD Cliff hanger! Wooo! xP**

Where was he, I wonder? What will happen next? ;)  
  
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